


we found love in a garbage place

by Omness



Category: HLVRAI - Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Black Mesa is still a weird science facility, Coomer and Bubby accidentally being parental to Benrey, M/M, Meet-Cute, OCs are there to fill in some minor roles, Pre-Relationship, but there's also a summer camp, for bubby/coomer, sorta - Freeform, vaguest mentions of Gordon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26975863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omness/pseuds/Omness
Summary: An incident at Black Mesa's Summer Camp leads to Dr. Coomer and Bubby teaming up to try and help young Benry. Unfortunately for them that means digging through Black Mesa's dumpsters. But digging through trash can lead to unexpected treasure.
Relationships: Benrey & Bubby (Half-Life), Benrey & Dr. Coomer (Half-Life), Bubby/Dr. Coomer (Half-Life)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 51





	we found love in a garbage place

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a summer camp au [zombly](https://zombly.tumblr.com/) and [I](https://legendaryandroid.tumblr.com/) have been discussing, but takes place years before the main story, sorta like a prequel? Except the main story doesn't exist as a consumable media, though this should stand on it's own.

“Dr. Coomer, there you are!” A frazzled looking intern exclaimed as she practically slid into the Replicant Studies break room.

Coomer blinked, surprised by the intrusion that cut short his conversation with one of the recent successful ‘perfect’ scientist experiments. It took a moment for his brain to adjust to the shift but once it had he said cheerfully, “Hello Barbara! What troubles you?”

Barbara had been leaning against her knees, catching her breath, but after Coomer addressed her she straightened up and said, “I went all the way to the Anomalous Materials lab to find you, but they said you had already gone to check things out here. But they need you down in Young Experiments right away. Like, drop what you’re doing and get your ass down here, theirwordsnotmine, right away.”

“Right then,” Coomer said, standing up and giving the scientist experiment a small bow, did they even have names? “I’m sorry to cut our conversation short, but it appears I am needed elsewhere!” Then he turned to the intern Barbara, who was hopping from to foot to foot, “Let’s go!”

Barbara nodded, and headed out the door at a fast pace, her ponytail bouncing, and Coomer following close behind, “What seems to be the problem that they’re calling for me?” Coomer asked.

“Oh, I’m just an intern, they don’t tell me anything,” Barbara dismissed, waving her hand, but then continued excitedly, “But I overheard there was an ‘incident,’” she airquoted, “at the Black Mesa Experimental Summer Camp for Observational and Instructional Purposes. One of the kids basically went full inhuman in front of some of the normies. It was taken care of, but now the kid is _freaking_ _out_ and I was sent to come get you because you get the best engagement out of the subject.”

Barbara continued to ramble about ‘aaallll’ the troubles she had to go through to track Coomer down so he tuned her out, wondering which of the children it could be. Surely none of them would have risked breaking kayfabe?

“We’re here~” Barbara exclaimed as she flung open the door of an observation room in the Young Experiments wing. She then headed to a corner, taking a position like she was keeping watch over the proceedings. Coomer stayed in the doorway a little longer, letting his eyes adjust to the dark. As he did, Coomer was surprised to see the scientist experiment slip past him, heading for the one-way mirror. Coomer watched him go with narrow eyes, wondering how long he had been following them, but let that slip from his mind as his gaze looked around the room. There were several other scientists standing around, all in different states of tense and perturbed as they turned to look at him.

One of them stepped forward, a relieved look on his face, “Dr. Coomer, please tell me you can do something about this.”

“Ah, Ricardo, what seems to be the current situation?” Coomer asked.

Ricardo gestured towards the one-way mirror, “Take a look for yourself.”

Coomer obliged, stepping up to the mirror, and flinching at what he saw. The mirror looked into one of the common rooms of the simplistic dorms that had been set up for the experiments, but it no longer looked like the cozy living room it had been intended to be. The room had been utterly and thoroughly wrecked. Furniture had been tossed and thrown about like they were toys, the walls scratched at with claws, and piles of what, shockingly, seemed to be bones everywhere.

But what really gave Coomer pause was the child that had curled into a crouch in the middle of the room. He had a too strong grip on his hair while he shivered, multi-colored tears floating away from his eyes before succumbing to gravity and dropping to the floor.

“He’s been like that for the last fifteen minutes,” Ricardo explained, “Before that he had been… well, you can see the results.” Ricardo shifted uncomfortably, “After seeing his tantrum, we’ve all been too afraid to go in.”

Coomer nodded, unsurprised, “Do you know what set him off?” he asked.

“Does it matter?” one of the scientists, David, asked.

Coomer frowned for just a moment, then forced his expression back to cheerful neutrality as he made a mental note to possibly have David transferred out of this department, “Could be. It’s always easier to talk to someone when you know where they’re coming from.”

David snorted, but Doctor Thorn spoke up before he could say anything else, “We don’t know too much. The Safety Inspectors pretty much dropped him with us and said he was our problem now.” They shrugged, “Though it sounds like he had been pretty cooperative with the usual incident handling procedures, but then just started freaking out in the middle and hasn’t stopped since.”

“Well, guess I’ll be flying in blind then,” Coomer said as blithely as possible, stepping back from the mirror.

“I’ll go with you.”

Coomer blinked, staring at the scientist that had followed him. He was still next to the mirror, one hand pressed up against the glass, “I assure you, that’s unnecessary!” Coomer said cheerily.

The scientist turned to look at Coomer, and behind his glasses there was a fire in his eyes as he said, “I believe Black Mesa policy states that when going into a potentially dangerous situation to bring someone with you when available for safety. I will be going with you,” There was no room for argument in his voice.

Coomer paused, but then said, “Very well! Let’s get a move on then.”

The two of them left the observation room, the other scientists wishing them luck. Then they went through a lobby to a door on the other side, where Coomer stopped and asked politely, “I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I ever caught your name?”

The scientist hesitated for a moment, frowning, before saying, “It’s Bubby.”

“What a wonderful name!” Coomer said warmly, enjoying the uniqueness of it. Bubby glanced away as Coomer continued, “I’m Dr. Coomer.”

“I’m aware.” Bubby said drily.

“Ah! It seems my reputation precedes me!”

“Something like that,” Bubby said, unimpressed, “But are we going in or what?”

“Of course!” Coomer exclaimed, “But before that I wanted to lay down some guidelines. He’s familiar with me, so let me do the talking alright? You’ll just be there to watch, and do try not to be threatening.”

“Yeah yeah,” Bubby said, waving a hand dismissively, “Are you gonna let the kid suffer much longer?”

Coomer stared at Bubby for a few moments, trying to decide whether to leave it there or not, before turning to the door and saying, “Very well!” then pressing a button and having the door slide open.

Stepping inside the room, the atmosphere shifted and grew colder from the anguish filling the room. It was one thing to have a wall separating you from someone’s emotions, quite another to be sharing the space of one suffering. Sympathy welled up in Coomer as he approached, wondering what Black Mesa had done this time.

The child didn’t react as Coomer approached him, his eyes completely unseeing as they stared inwards at unknowable thoughts. Bubby remained a few feet away with a watchful eye as Coomer crouched down to be more on eye-level with the boy. “Benry,” Coomer said gently.

Benry’s eyes snapped to his, then he lunged for Coomer.

A flicker of fear passed through Coomer and he tensed for a moment, enough to keep him from being bowled over as Benry wrapped his arms around Coomer’s waist, grasping tightly at his lab coat as the eleven year old burrowed his face into Coomer’s shirt with a wail, “Dr. Coomer!”

A stab of guilt went through Coomer’s heart, but he quickly buried that feeling in the graveyard next to its other Black Mesa related siblings. Ends justify the means. Once he got what he wanted he wouldn’t be a part of anything like this anymore.

“What’s wrong?” Coomer asked, soothingly rubbing a hand up and down Benry’s back.

“They took it!” Coomer managed to make out between sobs, “I said I would always keep it, and they took it! An-and it was important!”

Coomer blinked, this was all because the Safety Inspectors took something? A wash of relief filled him, if that was the case, it would be easy enough to get back. It’d require him to pull a few strings, but what didn’t in this place?

“What did they take?” Coomer asked.

Benry looked up at Coomer, tears pooling in his eyes as they darted back and forth and Coomer felt his heart sink at the familiar sign of someone trying to recall something.

“I-I don’t know.” Benry confirmed. What on earth had Benry done that they would wipe his memory too?

“That’s okay, it’ll be fine. Just let it go.” Coomer said, patting Benry on the shoulder. They were meaningless platitudes, but what else did he have?

Benry pulled back from Coomer, clenching his fists on top of his thighs as he shook his head, “I can’t forget it. I need it, or I’ll- or else,” Benry’s brow furrowed as he concentrated hard, dredging up a memory, “me and-and him, we won’t be friends anymore.”

“Well, I’m sure that’s not true!” Coomer said cheerily, “A true friendship can survive one lost item.”

Benry frowned, a steely look in his eye as he tucked in his chin stubbornly, “That doesn’t matter. I’ve gotta get it back.”

“Benry…” Coomer trailed off, uncertain what to say. There was no way he could get something back from the Safety Inspectors if he didn’t know what it was. They’d probably laugh him off, no matter how many palms he greased.

“It’s-” Coomer tried, but cut himself off. “There’s-” Stopped again, before he could try a third time Bubby crouched down next to him, a slightly wild look in his eyes.

“Just forget about it kid, there’s nothing you can do about it.” He said bluntly.

“Bubby!” Coomer exclaimed, both he and Benry staring at him agape.

“You’re not getting that object back and that’s a fact.”

“But-!” Benry cried at the same time that Coomer hissed, “Professor-!”

“No buts,” Bubby said sternly, stopping whatever Benry was going to say with a hand, “You just have to accept it. Be a good little boy and do whatever the scientists want you to do.” Bubby shifted his hand to hold up his pointer finger, “Or...” he trailed off.

“Or?” Benry asked, watery eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Bubby side-eyed Coomer, calculating for a moment, before leaning closer to Benry and whispering at the perfect tone to carry to Coomer but not to any listening devices, “Or. Those feelings in your chest? That fire? You keep it, no matter what they do to you or memories they make you lose. You hold onto that flame, fan it, keep it alive. Don’t let them kill it. That way, when you get your opportunity, you can seize it with all you have.” Bubby leaned back, staring at Benry seriously, “Got it?”

Benry stared back at Bubby, brow furrowed, before finally nodding, “Got it.”

Bubby smiled and ruffled Benry’s hair before standing up, “Alright then, now that that’s over, I think someone’s in need of a time out.”

“Do I have to?” Benry whined, but this time it was one of any petulant child, not one on the verge of a mental breakdown.

“‘Fraid so kiddo.” Coomer said, “You caused a lot of property damage!”

Benry pouted, then a mischievous look crossed his face, “Then I want a piggyback ride to my room. For safety reasons.”

Coomer laughed, and obliged, turning around so Benry could climb up on his back, “Get on!”

Once Benry had settled onto his back, Coomer stood up and staggered. He panicked, imagining Benry slipping from a weak grasp. He was no longer in his prime, he was weakening, had been for a while. Slowly dying.

As quickly as the panic came, Coomer shoved it down, distracting himself by running as fast as he could down the hallway of dorms, while mentally shortening the schedule to trial run the cybernetic departments new limb enhancers.

In the short amount of time it took Coomer to reach Benry’s room, the boy was already snoozing against his back, exhausted from his emotional outbursts. With an amused smile, Coomer readjusted Benry’s weight so he could open the door. The bedroom contained a simple dresser and bed, the latter which Coomer carefully dropped Benry into, arranging him under the covers so he could sleep peacefully.

There were no video cameras in the bedrooms, a surprisingly kind gift of privacy from Black Mesa, so Coomer decided to indulge himself in affection and placed a gentle hand on Benry’s head then leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead, hoping to wipe away the furrow of worry that had come back and etched it’s way into Benry’s forehead, “Sleep well,” he whispered.

When Coomer straightened up and turned around, he was surprised to see Bubby leaning against the doorframe, but hid it with a bland smile. As he approached the door, he made a slight shooing motion for Bubby to move.

“Dr. Coomer?” The sleepy voice of Benry rang out, stopping Coomer in his tracks, “Will I really not get it back?” 

Bubby and Coomer's eyes snapped to each other, reflecting looks of consternation. The memory wipe could take some time to go fully into effect, but he really should’ve forgotten all about it by now.

Scrambling to come up with something to say, Coomer looked at Benry over his shoulder, eyes and eyes in various states of drifting back to sleep looking at him, “Don’t worry about that.” Coomer said with a gentle smile, “Just go back to sleep and let Dr. Coomer take care of it.”

“Mmmkaaaaay,” Benry yawned and his eyes shut tight, like they were never there at all.

After reassuring the waiting scientists that everything was fine and Bubby calling them weenies, which Coomer had to resist snorting at, Coomer’s day returned to normal. He checked in at a few other departments to see how things were going, but his mind was distracted by Benry. Worried and wondering. He had never learned what had happened that Benry got taken by the Safety Inspectors in the first place. And if Benry wanted whatever he had lost so bad to still remember it even  _ exists _ , well, Coomer wanted to get it for him.

So Coomer gave up actually doing work-work, and instead got to work trying to figure out what happened to Benry’s stuff. Which took, a lot more time than he thought it would. His usual channels felt like gears grinding against each other to get any kind of information; to which he could only conclude that the Safety Inspectors must have been putting more effort into the coverup than usual. But eventually Coomer got the one tidbit of information he truly needed. All of today’s confiscated items had been thrown out in the garbage.

He would have to go dumpster diving.

He’d have to sneak in though, Black Mesa locked their trash to keep Coomer’s exact plans from happening. So he arranged a few things, waited for nightfall, then stepped outside where the dumpsters were fenced in.

And saw someone else there, hanging half into a dumpster, a mess of opened trash bags around him. Coomer kept a hand on the door handle behind him, ready to disappear back where he came from as he watched the man lean back out with another black bag in hand. There was a flash of glasses from the light of the moon and Coomer immediately knew who it was.

“Hello Bubby!” Coomer called cheerfully with a wave.

Bubby jumped a foot in the air, letting out a strangled yelp and gazing frantically around before locking eyes with Coomer. His body relaxed as he said, “Oh, it’s you. Lemme guess, you’re here for the same thing?”

“Hunting down whatever it was that Benry had taken from him?” Coomer asked rhetorically as he approached Bubby, pulling on long yellow rubber gloves, “You betcha. Though I must say, I wasn’t quite expecting you to help. Didn’t you say Benry should give it up as gone?”

Bubby grumbled something.

“What was that?” Coomer said with amusement.

“I said,” Bubby stated loudly, “That if you want to help you should start digging.“ He gestured to the dumpster bins, “Start with the top layer of each of those and work your way down. I started a pile of potential missing items over there,” Coomer clicked on a flashlight and followed the pointing of Bubby’s thumb to see a small pile of… things. A mostly used roll of ductape, some old plastic tubing, a bunch of unbroken test tubes.

“Uh-huh.” Coomer stated.

“What?” Bubby asked defensively, “What’s wrong with it?”

“Everything!” Coomer answered brightly, none of these would hold enough interest for a young child, let alone an eleven year old “Do you mind if I look through what you’ve already dug out?”

Bubby sighed, “Fine.”

With that, the two of them silently went to work, Bubby cutting open the bag he had and digging through it’s contents while Coomer began looking through the trash Bubby had already tossed out, putting it into new trash bags that he set neatly to the side to be thrown back into the dumpsters when they were done.

They had been working for about twenty minutes when Bubby spoke up, “I figured out what happened.”

Coomer looked up at Bubby, still digging through trash, and asked in confusion, “What?”

“I found out what happened with the kid, why he was taken in by the Safety Inspectors.” Bubby said, without looking up, “Didn’t you want to know?”

“Yes I did.” Coomer answered, it would certainly help him figure out how to keep this from happening again.

Bubby paused his search, staring at his hands as he explained, “Sounds like one of the other campers was being bullied and Benry went apeshit trying to protect them. Apparently not even the counselors could stop him, only the kid that was being bullied begging for him to stop ended things. Safety Inspectors thought this made him too much of a threat and wiped his memories of the whole thing so he wouldn’t get any ideas,” Bubby finally made eye contact with Coomer, his expression wary, “He’s probably going to be undergoing a lot more tests than usual to figure out just what he can do and how to negate it.”

Coomer could picture what type of tests would be run. The image of it made him grind his teeth, hands flexing with the urge to punch something, but he forced himself to relax, “The scientists running the tests will probably bring me on board, scared he’ll freak out again.”  _ As they should be. _ “I’ll see what I can do to pull back on some of the more… eager, scientists.”

“Good.” Bubby said, the smallest of smiles lifting the corners of his lips and then was gone as he stood up to grab another load of garbage. It left Coomer wondering if he had really seen it at all. 

They continued their rummaging, creating a pile of weakly potential items. And still they searched, getting dirty and smelly, and certainly gaining mysterious colored stains on their clothes. It was frustrating, to say the least. Bubby had slowly taken up a tirade of irritation and expletives along the line of, ‘goddamn kids with their fuckin’ irresponsibility and those damnable Safety Inspectors with their stupidly zealous practices should fuckin learn a thing or two…”

It was entertaining for a while, then it got tiresome, then Coomer hit the jackpot.

“Bubby look!” Coomer called, and Bubby did.

“What is it? Better be something good!”

“It’s the remains of Sierra’s birthday cake!” Coomer called, holding the bag with the leftover cake triumphantly.

Bubby raised an eyebrow, a look of irritation on his face, “Okay…. So?”

“So, that cake had the best buttercream frosting I’ve ever had!” Coomer responded, scooping up some of the cake from the kitchen trash.

“Yeah, but you’re not gonna eat it now are you?”

Coomer didn’t respond, but made direct and aggressive eye contact with Bubby as he brought the cake to his mouth.

“Oh my god, don’t do it.” Bubby exclaimed, looking aghast.

Coomer bit into the cake, his sense of taste wasn’t great, but even he could tell the cake wasn’t nearly as tasty as the first time, but it was worth it to see the expression on Bubby’s face. Creating such a visceral reaction of horror from somebody that worked at Black Mesa, especially one who was born there, was a rarity and a gem.

“Delicious!” Coomer stated with a smile once he had swallowed, then reached for another scoop.

“Don’t-stop!” Bubby yelled, and tackled Coomer, doing his best to yank the bag away from him. Coomer had planned to go easy on Bubby to drag out the fight, but Bubby was surprisingly strong and it took more effort than he thought to seriously keep the bag out of reach. But after only a few moments their jabs became more playful, their taunts childish as they tried light-heartedly to see what the other could do.

“Give it!” Bubby cried, trying to sweep Coomer’s legs out from under him.

“Nuh-uh!” Coomer responded cleverly as he danced back.

Coomer waited for another strike, but Bubby had stopped, looked at Coomer with confusion on his face, then threw back his head and laughed, “Alright, alright. We’ve clearly gone insane searching for Benry’s thingamajig, I think we need a break.”

He moved to a part of the pavement that hadn’t gotten the trash sorting treatment and dropped his labcoat onto the ground and sat on one side of it like a blanket, then patted the other side invitingly with a hand.

Coomer obliged, leaving the cake bag behind and settling cross legged on the coat. He relaxed, leaning back on his hands and staring at the stars. The night sky at Black Mesa was amazing, with an endless amount of stars and the milky way… stretching to infinity… everything was... so big… and Coomer was... small. Insignificant. Would live and die and be...  _ nothing _ to the universe.

Coomer tried hard to control his breathing as the dread settled over him. He began punching the ground as if to punch the emotions into submission, but it was hard when the sky was  _ right there. _

“I’m going to go there someday.” Bubby said matter of factly.

Coomer latched onto those words like a drowning man, holding tightly onto the distraction as he turned to look at Bubby and asked, “Go where?”

“Up there.” Bubby said with grim determination on his face as he lifted his arm from where it rested on his raised knee to point at the sky.

Coomer followed the line of Bubby’s finger and stared at the stars again, trying to see them as they were, but they just began spinning around him, making him dizzy and feeling like he was about to pass out. So he abruptly glanced down again, focusing on Bubby’s face as he exclaimed, “Why would you want to go there!?”

Bubby grinned fiercely, eyes still on the sky as he answered, “Because it’s the farthest thing from Black Mesa. Up there there’s no walls or rules or tests, one can be free. Also, space is so goshdang  _ cool _ . There’s galaxies that look like eyes, and stars that orbit each other, and so much is unexplained and I want to see it all.” Bubby met Coomer’s eyes, his face gleaming with an excitement that Coomer hadn’t seen in a long time, not since becoming an employee at Black Mesa. There was a purity to it, in a sense. There was no ulterior motive to Bubby’s interest in space, no self serving reason to go there. Just plain unadulterated joy. It was… beautiful, in a way.

This time when Coomer looked at the sky, he tried to see it from Bubby’s eyes. A place to explore, just beyond reach, with unknowns and mysteries that, just maybe, could excite a scientist trying to understand the world, instead of invoking fear into one who saw it’s vastness. 

Still, the sight of the unfeeling void sent chills down Coomer’s spine, and he had to look away. But the thought of it being there, just out of sight, didn’t haunt him as much as it did a few minutes ago. 

“That’s a beautiful dream to have Bubby!” Coomer exclaimed, once he felt more himself.

“A dream…?” Bubby frowned, trailing off. Then he smiled, “Yeah I guess it is a dream.”

“And I hope you achieve it some day.” 

Bubby’s smile became fierce again, “Oh. I  _ will. _ ”

The crawling sensation of anxiety slowly faded and Coomer truly relaxed as the conversation shifted elsewhere and they ended up gossiping about their fellow workers at Black Mesa, who left a mess in the microwave and didn’t clean it up, who were kissing in closets, and so on.

Eventually, Coomer stood and stretched saying, “Well, back to work I say! We still have to find the whatzit.”

Bubby groaned, but after cracking his neck he stood up too, “Gosh, what a troublesome kid.”

Coomer simply smiled at that, he thought he was getting a better hang of who Bubby was, and could hear the concern in his words. “If it keeps Benry’s spirits up in this place, then it’s worth it.”

“Yeah.” Bubby agreed softly, before shaking his head and saying, “Alright, time to get digging.”

With renewed vigor, the two of them returned to their task of searching through the smelly, stinky, and frankly, disgusting garbage.

It was kind of disheartening, but Coomer looked at the brightside, at least they didn’t have to dig through the biohazard waste! Oh. What if they had to try going through biohazard waste after this?

“I found something!” Bubby called.

Coomer popped out from the dumpster he had been digging in, hope flaring in his chest, “What is it?”

“Check it!” Bubby responded triumphantly, holding up a hand from which dangled… something. It was too dark for Coomer to tell.

“What is it?” Coomer asked.

“A name tag that says, ‘Benry’ on it. And it came from a bag with other goodies. Come look.”

Coomer complied, hopping out of the dumpster and joining Bubby next to his.

“Here, hold this while I figure what else is in here.” Bubby demanded, shoving the nametag at Coomer, who had to juggle his flashlight for a moment before grabbing it.

Bubby continued to pull items out of the bag and hand them to Coomer, an orange t-shirt with the Black Mesa logo on it, a few shiny rocks, a clay sculpture of something, then a necklace.

Bubby squinted at the necklace for a moment, “Is Benry supposed to be spelled with two ‘E’s?” He asked.

“No, I’m pretty sure it isn’t.” Coomer answered, “Why do you ask?”

Bubby showed Coomer the braided necklace, there were beads on it spelling out B-E-N-R-E-Y. 

“Huh.” Coomer said, “Well, we’ll take it with us just in case.”

“That’s the last thing, so I think our work here is done.” Bubby said with confidence as he hopped out of the dumpster.

“Not quite,” Coomer said, indicating with his head all the garbage bags that surrounded them, “We have to clean up.”

“Ughhhh,” Bubby groaned, “Fine.”

Coomer placed his pile of items on top of where Bubby had left his lab coat spread on the ground, then helped Bubby with discarding all the bags with an ease that came from knowing they had accomplished their task.

The next morning Bubby and Coomer met outside of Young Experiments with their collected items. Bubby had a nervous expression on his face which prompted Coomer to ask, “What’s wrong Bubby?”

Bubby chewed his lip for a moment before blurting out, “What if we didn’t find the right thing? Maybe we should’ve kept searching just in case.”

“Aww, Bubby, you do care!” Coomer exclaimed.

A flush overcame Bubby’s face, “Sh-shut up! I do not! I just don’t want to deal with all the whining if we’re wrong.”

“Of course,” Coomer humored him, “But I wouldn’t worry, we’re sure to have whatever Benry is looking for in this bag!”

“And if it isn’t there?” Bubby insisted.

“Then I suspect we’ll be digging through the trash again tonight!”

“Ugh,” Bubby frowned, “No thanks. I’m done with that.”

“If it happens I’ll meet you tonight at the same time, same place. Liar!” Coomer cheerfully responded, seeing right through Bubby.

Bubby glared at Coomer for a moment, then decided to ignore him and pushed open the door instead, “Let’s just go,” He said, entering the room with Coomer behind him.

The door led to a small lobby area, where there was a security guard sitting behind a desk talking to a scientist standing next to her.

“Hello Ricardo! Hello Mara!” Coomer called out.

The both of them returned the greeting while Bubby remained silent. When greetings finished, Ricardo asked, “What brings the both of you here? Checking on the subjects?”

“Yes actually!” Coomer answered, “Specifically we wanted to follow up on Benry. Is he still in the dorms or has he gone back to the camp already?”

Ricardo shot Coomer a sympathetic look, “You haven’t heard? Black Mesa shut down the whole Summer Camp Experiment. Not for just this year either, they decided they’re not going to run it at all anymore.”

“Oh no.” Coomer said softly.

“Yeah,” Ricardo sighed, and put a hand to the back of his neck, “The kids always looked forward to it each year, I’m not sure what’s going to happen now.”

“A whole lot of trouble, that’s what.” Bubby muttered under his breath.

“Anyways,” Ricardo said, “I’ll let you in to see Benry, they’re adding more security measures as a temporary precaution until they know he isn’t going to act up again.” Ricardo explained with a tired smile, leading them to a door at the side of the desk where he had to have an eye scan before the door slid open, he then gestured them through.

“Wait!” Mara called from the desk, “I have to inspect all items brought in.”

Ricardo glanced at the bag Bubby was holding, then gave him and Coomer a knowing look before telling Mara, “Don’t worry about it this time. If anyone complains, tell them to come to me.” He then turned to the two of them again and said in a low tone, “David’s replacing me in ten minutes, so I suggest not staying long.”

Coomer gave Ricardo a grateful smile, “Thanks Ricardo! We owe you one.”

“Let’s just not bring it up at my next performance evaluation and we’ll call it even. Now go.”

Coomer nodded and went through the door, Bubby following him. They were in the same common room as yesterday, the furniture had been replaced, but the marks on the walls and floor hadn’t yet been repaired. There was no sign of Benry so the two of them made their way to his bedroom door.

Once they reached it, Coomer knocked and called, “Hello Benry! It’s Dr. Coomer and Bubby! May we come in?”

There was a slight thud and some shuffling, but a young voice called back, “Yah.”

Coomer unlocked the door, the twinge of guilt he felt at the bedrooms only having locks on the outside was faint, but very familiar and easily ignored as he swung the door open.

“Hello Benry!” Coomer called again as he stepped into Benry’s room. He was sitting on the edge of his rumpled bed, a bored expression on his face, “It’s nice to see you again.”

“Yo Dr. Coomer, mysterious scientist man,” Benry responded, then crossed his arms, “I thought I was re-stric-ted access, you guys breaking the rules to see me?”

“Not at all!” Coomer cheerfully replied, “After all, if you break the rules hard enough, then they don’t exist anymore!”

Benry’s gaze narrowed, as if mulling it over, “I don’t know, still kinda suspicious. Don’t know if I should’ve even allowed you in.”

“Listen you little twerp,” Bubby said with irritation, clearly new to Benry’s playful behavior, “We brought you something, if you don’t want it, we can leave.”

Benry’s focused gaze went to Bubby, staring at him, eyes flickering to the black bag in his hand for a moment, then finally, he nodded, “Alright, I’ll let it slide just this once.”

“Good!” Coomer responded, “Because if you didn’t I was going to give you a noogie, in fact, I think I still will!” And then he took the two steps to Benry and wrapped one arm around the boy’s shoulders to hold him in place while the other ruffled his hair.

“Noooooo!” Benry protested, lightly shoving at Coomer before laughing at the sensation of his hair being fluffed. When Coomer let him go, there was still a small smile on Benry’s face as he asked, “So what did you guys bring?”

Bubby glanced at Coomer and he just barely picked up the uncertainty in his expression. Smiling reassuringly, Coomer made a ‘go ahead’ gesture.

“Well, you asked for it,” Bubby stated, and stepped up to the two and dumped the contents of the bag onto the bed, “You get one of these back.  _ One.” _

At the site of the items, Benry froze, then slowly he reached out and picked up the necklace and cradled it in his too long hands, “You found it.” He said softly. He looked up at Bubby, then at Coomer, “You found it,” he repeated in disbelief. 

“We did.” Coomer said softly, feeling affectionate warmth in his chest, at least he did some good this time. He ignored the part of him that wondered if it was enough.

“And I can keep it?” Benry asked.

Bubby snorted, “Of course. We didn’t go through all the trouble of looking for it just to throw it away.”

Benry hesitated, his head wavering back and forth before he finally said, so quietly that Coomer could barely hear it, “Thank you.” Then he looped the necklace around his wrist three times so it wouldn’t fall off.

Then it all clicked in Coomer’s head. That had been a bracelet, not a necklace. A  _ friendship _ bracelet no less. The kid that had been bullied must’ve been Benry’s friend, which would explain why he broke the sacred rule of being ‘normal’ at camp, especially since his abilities were mostly powered by his emotions. He must’ve been so angry and upset, wanting to protect his friend no matter what.

While Coomer was having this revelation, Bubby had been talking, saying sternly, “You better make sure no one takes that from you again. But if they do,” He grinned, all sharp and threatening, “You let them know Bubby will make them regret every life choice that led them to that moment.”

Benry smiled too, slightly sharp, but not yet developed enough to be intimidating, “Only if I don’t make them regret it first.”

If possible, Bubby’s grin got wider, “Good. That’s the way to be, don’t let that fire die.”

“I won’t.” Benry responded, and as if they had practiced it beforehand instead of doing it for the first time, the two of them reached out and fist bumped each other, then made those fists explode open while making noises with their mouth.

Coomer smiled, watching them, but he had to cut their bonding short, “Well, this has been nice!” he said, standing up, “But we must be going. Black Mesa runs on and with another day comes another dollar.”

A flicker of disappointment appeared on Benry’s face, then was gone as his limbs became humanly proportionate again. Benry sniffed dismissively, “Good. Because you guys were overstaying your welcome anyway. Were gonna, gonna mess with my vibes.”

“Don’t think you’ll get rid of us that easily.” Bubby said, “You’re the perfect victim for me to come bother. So see you later.” And with that he about-faced and strode out Benry’s door without another word.

“Weirdo.” Benry said after he was gone.

Privately, Coomer agreed. Poor man couldn’t even acknowledge he cared. Then he turned to Benry and said, “I’ll be seeing you later Benry, so stay out of trouble!”

Benry stared at him, “But don’t you get in trouble all the time? Isn’t that… hypocritical?”

“I don’t get in trouble, I am a perfect gentleman!” Coomer responded.

Benry shook his head in disbelief, “Goodbye Dr. Coomer.”

“Bye-bye Benry!” Coomer waved, stepping backwards out of the room and shutting the door once he was outside, then he locked it. It would look suspicious if he didn’t, and headed for the common room where Bubby was waiting.

“So is he good?” Bubby asked.

“Benry will be fine!” Coomer reassured, “He bounces back quickly, and I’m sure the bracelet will help keep him in good form. But I do have a question for you.”

Bubby frowned, “Yeah? Shoot.”

“Would you like to get a drink together after work?”

Bubby was startled, looking at Coomer with wide-eyes before composing his face into one of annoyance, “I don’t leave Black Mesa. I can’t”

“That’s okay!” Coomer responded, “I know of a secret breakroom that has the best coffee, not like the junk in all the other ones. We could go there! What do you think?”

Bubby’s face softened slightly. “I’d like that.”

“Then it’s a date!” Coomer exclaimed, leaving Bubby spluttering in the common room as he left.


End file.
